Monthly Archives: December 2011

¨the only thing I’m going to promise is that you’re going to get our best every night. And when you hear `The Clippers,’ it’s not going to be a joke anymore. I can guarantee you that.” Blake Griffin

For the first time since the Clippers moved from San Diego to Los Angeles when Donald Sterling purchased the team, the Los Angeles Clippers are no longer the butt of jokes, nor will no longer be referred to as that other LA team.

For the Longest time, LA belonged solely to the Lakers, a team steeped in winning tradition, where superstars always want to play, and a team where winning was synonymous with. The Clippers? a mere afterthought, if even that. The snafus of the clipper front office have long been documented, trades, draft choices, signings and contract extensions and offers to players have led many observers to privately wonder what the hell is the ownership team thinking. Add to that the not so clean reputation of owner Donald Sterling and you have a picture of a franchise that had the putrid smell of decay that made all star caliber players stay away. They tried offering a contract to Kobe Bryant in free agency which was outrightly rejected. all stars they obtained through trades eventually bolted as soon as they could. praying for trades that would get them out of dodge. The Clippers it seemed was a team where careers are mired in a bog of stagnancy. that is until they rolled the dice on a 17 percent chance at the top pick of the 2009 draft where they selected the man who would change the way people would think about the Clippers. Blake Griffin.

And although Griffin would miss his entire rookie year following a freak injury during the last preseason game of the season against, quite coincidentally; Chris Paul’s hornets, He took the NBA by storm last season winning rookie of the year, playing in his first all star game and winning the slam dunk contest. Suddenly the clippers, were appearing regularly on televised games as Griffin dueled with minnesota’s Kevin Love for the most consecutive number of double doubles, aside from his gravity defying throw downs.

But more than those ferocious dunks, Blake Griffin brought something else to the Clippers. he was soft spoken, he was not a trash talker. other players would beat down on him and get physical and he would not retaliate, he just let his game do the talking. He brought a tremendous locker room presence and work ethic that got every Clipper player pumped up, everyone started working harder, if the kid can do it, so should we was how center DeAndre Jordan put it.

Now the Clippers are poised to storm through the western conference, and everyone is now taking notice. After numerous hitches, they finally traded for superstar point guard Chris Paul, and claimed disgruntled guard Chauncey Billups off of waivers plus signed small forward Caron Butler, and resigned DeAndre Jordan for four more years. Now people are asking, are they actually better than the Lakers now? a thought unheard of as early as a year ago.

Courtesy of NBA.com

Neil Olshey deserves to win GM of the year even before this season starts by surrounding Griffin with Talent and character guys to show they mean business. and although some people are wondering if the Clippers gave up too much in the trade that landed CP3, and what the hell are they going to do with 5 guards on their roster, clipper nation aint really that bothered. This is CP3, the premier point guard cut in the mold of Jason Kidd, with a better jumpshot. a pure point guard who has the ability to make teammates better. a starting 5 of Paul, Billups, Butler, Jordan and Griffin is not something to take lightly. it is highly probable that they will make additional trades perhaps involving Randy Foye and Mo Williams to get a back up big man, but right now people are salivating at the prospect of watchng the clipper highlight reel this early.

Chris Paul said during yesterday’s introduction that he was excited at the prospect of playing along side Griffin, saying all the right things.

¨I think Blake has done an unbelievable job changing that (perception),” Paul said. “You can’t take anything away from him about how he has changed the culture here in L.A. I’m coming here to join and be a part of it, and hopefully we can grow together as basketball players and continue to change everything. That’s what we play for.”

and for those looking forward to the now famous ^¨Lob City¨ comment made by a giddy Griffin and DeAndre Jordan CP3 has this to say.

“That’s something that’s not going to happen overnight either,” Paul said. “I’ve got to find the right height. It’s like Blake plays on a goal that’s lower than 10 foot or something. I’m excited for the opportunity to not only help him grow, but for him to help me to get to the next level.”

NBA analysts are now projecting the Clippers to be a playoff team and rightfully so, but can they contend? perhaps after another trade that would get them a defensive minded big man. but hey, who would have projected the Mavs to win the title last year? i say anything is possible. i have never been a fan of the Clippers, i used to love the bulls because of Pippen,then detroit because of Sheed and Tayshaun Prince. but now? Blake Griffin and the Clippers are about to take on the world, and everyone is waiting for the aerial fireworks. Lob City here we come!

¨Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real you did not know what to believe?¨- Lucas Scott

This is a story of a kid with a dream who achieved it as a man, who on the cusp of greatness and glory had his career cut off by injury and ended all too soon. The basketball world is littered by stories that break hearts. Players who are so talented it’s almost unfair, who throw it away because of drugs, or because they couldn’t handle the fame. there are players who can singlehandedly change a franchise’s future, then suddenly get injured and are unable to come back, their potential, their future, gone in an instant. players like Yao Ming and Penny Hardaway fall into this category, so does Brandon Roy. I’ve always liked Brandon Roy, quiet, unassuming, someone who gets the job done. He was not as brash as NBA superstars are wont to be, he was a Three time all star, he was the face, the leader of the trailblazers, till all that changed.

Roy’s knee problems have been well documented, as well as his stubborn disposition in returning to the team way before he was supposed to. in the end, it caused him. In 2008, during his third season, he went under the knife to remove a piece of cartilage on his left knee that was causing irritation. he would go on to star in a lot of game winning highlights including a 52 point performance against Phoenix in 2009 he suffered a torn meniscus that would have sidelined him all through the first round of the playoffs, but he returned early, to lead the blazers to a win during the first round.

By the second month of his 5th season, Roy’s knees started showing that it could no longer take the wear and tear of the rigorous NBA schedule. the blazers eventually announced that Roy would be out indefinitely. in January of 2011, he underwent arthroscopic surgery on both knees in a bid to prolong his career but came back after only over a month to take on a reserve role for the blazers. Everyone wrote him off as a never was, another one of those players who were on the verge of breaking out as stars, only to fall to injury. until the first round of the playoffs reminded everyone what kind of a player BR7 was.

After inconsistent playing time which had him playing 26 minutes in game 1 and 8 in game 2 that put the blazers in a 0-2 hole, Roy rebounded with a 16 point performance in 23 minutes to lead the blazers off the bench to make it a 2-1 series. Then in game 4, this happened.

The Mavs would ultimately go on to win that series en route to being crowned NBA champs, but for one night, Brandon Roy showed why he belonged amongst the NBA’s elite.reminding the world of the kind of player he is, or now, was.

today reports suggest that Brandon Roy will retire due to medical reasons after only five seasons in the league, 5 years, there was a lot left to accomplish, but if one of your last games were like this game, Brandon Roy has nothing to be ashamed of.

Basketball fans the world over went gaga minutes after the mega deal that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers went viral. laker fans of course were grinning from ear to ear taking to twitter and facebook claiming this will be the year Kobe matches Jordan’s six championship rings while waiting on another trade rumor that would have Andrew Bynum sent to the Magic for Superman Dwight Howard couple of hours later, David Stern, NBA commish, vetoes the deal, and now it leaves the Rockets and lakers team chemistry in shambles. now what?

Ever since the lockout ended teams were queuing up to talk to the hornets whose superstar point guard announced a desire to be traded as he will not re-sign with them when his contract expires next year. both big market and small market teams tried pitching offers to general manager Dell Demps of the NBA owned franchise.

the catch for trading the most sought after point guard in free agency would have been immense for the Hornets, maybe even making them a playoff team this season. under terms of the deal they would have netted Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic and a 2012 first round pick from the rockets while the rockets would get spanish softie, i mean, spanish sensation Pau Gasol. For the hornets, that’s 3 starters, a 6th Man and a future blue chip rookie. i mean come on, is anyone really expecting the

rockets to make the playoffs this year? Now why would David Stern torpedo that deal? The lockout happened because the owners and stern supposedly wanted more leverage for small market teams and protect them from having their superstars dictate where they want to go. think heatles to Miami and Melo to New York. now those were deals wherein the small market teams like Cleveland and Denver got almost nothing in return, rightup there with Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown. this deal was an awesome deal for the hornets but essentially Stern declared that the Hornets would be better served with CP3 playing out the year in a hornets uniform then bolting when he hits next years free agency. the Hornets will be left holding an empty bag with nothing to show for it. how in fuckin hell Stern sees this as an unfair trade is beyond me.

David Stern has always had his way, but this time, everyone except for Cavs owner Dan Gilbert seems to think he has gone too far.

David Stern seems to be applying rules arbitrarily here and there. even with the resumption of talks between the three teams, whats gonna happen now? will a new deal be acceptable to commissioner asshole? and what if a different team offers a different trade and Stern accepts that, wouldn’t it set a dangerous precedent? that the league shows favoritism? that the league is fixed and held by puppet strings that lead back to the commissioners office? its like he’s playing fantasy basketball or something. where were all these rules when Miami was in a nuclear arms race to get lebron and bosh to play with wade? It seems that the NBA still thinks that selling merchandise of a superstar Chris Paul’s status is more important for the hornets rather than a glut of new faces that would take the team to the playoffs for years.

Its unfair to the teams and players involved. imagine being Pau Gasol or any one of those players in the aborted trade, how would you feel going to practice for a team that you have helped for years now knowing they actually wanted to send you off yesterday? yes trades are a part of business in professional sports, but this has most probably destroyed team chemistry, Houston and the Lakers will do their best to fix this mess, even as it was not of their making. there is now a breach of trust that furthers the divide between players and owners caused by Stern’s lockout. David stern is to be blamed. but obstinate as he is, he won’t do a thing, just twiddle his thumbs and wait for his paycheck. somebody kick him to the curb.

it’s been ten hours since the final buzzer sounded.and now we are one step away, one win away from winning our division title and moving on to the second division. But it’s 4am and i’m still watching the scouting tapes on our next opponent who have gone undefeated. it’s 4am and i’m still replaying this last win in my head, looking for holes in the defense and chinks in our offense. i’ve never wanted to win anything this badly, even as if we win, it will really be a victory for my players. i just want this for them so much.

when i inherited this team last year, if i had a gun i’d have shoot myself in the head and be done with it. this used to be a group of kids, not even a team, who played with no confidence, always shooting jump shots, no hustle, and no heart. everyone pegged them as losers. and to be blunt about it. last year, they were. not because they kept losing by pretty big margins but because they played with no heart.

Then this year happened. some players moved up because of age and were no longer eligible to play cadet. some players were cut, and new blood joined the team. a trio of fleet footed guards. my own version of Ginebra’s the fast the furious and the fearless to complement my core players. suddenly, things were looking up. not to say that training camp was a cakewalk, though. there were times i’d get angry messages from my center who wanted to keep shooting the three ball because he can shoot, while all i wanted him to do was learn to take the ball inside and post up. sometimes i’d get complaints in the local tongue whenever i make them run drills, again and again and again. they said they were bored of shooting free throws, and lay ups, not seeing the increase in their shooting percentages. i’d stress the importance of a trap defense, of learning different defensive sets while mastering an offensive system and they just wanted to be kids and play scrimmages where they’d just run and gun it.

they were stubborn, but then again so was I. joe still shoots up to 3 3point shots a game and makes about 33 percent, but he has a wicked inside game now that he goes to more often, aside from an increasing repertoire of dunks. Jerome still has an unorthodox shot, which i wont even try to correct, but he now gets most of his points off a lot of offensive rebounds due to his improving positioning. Adrian is gaining back his confidence one game at a time, and Pol is learning fast. Orhan used to be scared to mix it up inside but now he’s hauling down rebounds on both ends, his free throw shooting has improved from 20 percent to 70, and is now learning to harness his explosiveness in going to the hoop. Ben is an offensive explosion waiting to happen, plus he really improved his defense to the point where he can shut down an opponent 5 inches taller with relative ease. Enes used to play scared and deferred to his older teammates, but now, he’s playing more like the leader who will take over this team when Jerome and Joe can no longer play cadet next year.

Then there are the three guards who joined us this year. My team’s version of Ginebra’s the fast the furious and the fearless. Christoph, a pint sized point guard with a very high basketball IQ, a court general who can take over any game. then there ‘s the half pinoy brother tandem of Mike and Gilles, a speedy steals machine on the defensive end, and showtime on offense. people get up on their feet when they attack the basket, knowing they might just see something magical.

Reading back those last two paragraphs, i sound like a proud dad with 9 kids. but how can i not be proud at how far they’ve come? only one win away and my target for this season is completed halfway through. to climb out of the doldrums and barge into the 2nd division. after that, we train our sights on getting to the premier division, others may scoff at it, but no one even expected us to get this far.

after the game, a parent approached me and said she loved how the kids looked like they enjoyed every minute out there. i told her it was a joy to coach them. she asked me what my plans were for next year, since after this 180 degrees turnaround, other teams might be looking to poach me. i told her everything was still up in the air, we never know what the future holds, i told her, so lets just enjoy watching your kids out there. she said she he hopes i’ll stay on. whatever happens, this has been a magical season, and i’ve loved every moment so far.

Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.Aristotle

debates and opinions are scattered on the internet by Filipinos the world over regarding the latest political telenovela unfolding in the Philippines right now. okay, sometimes it is interspersed by opinions and debates on the KC -Piolo split but politics and showbiz do go hand in hand, actor-politicians are a dime a dozen nowadays. but thats beside the point.

politics has always been a tricky thing, the Philippine political landscape on the other hand, is just full of land mines. its just like a fuckin video game where Juan dela Cruz continually tries to navigate his way along a minefield only to be blasted to smithereens, gets another life and perpetually commits the same mistakes, and gets decapitated again and again and again. a never ending groundhog day. a horror movie with countless sequels.

my earliest recollection about politics was as a young kid in the late 80’s using gawgaw in putting up posters of my aunt who was running for vice governor then governor in our province of Ifugao; and yes, taking the stage and singing her campaign jingle which my dad wrote to the tune of the impossible dream. i was in early grade school then but i can still remember the specific instructions, do not put posters over other candidates posters, nor should you deface their campaign paraphernalia. it felt honorable, it felt, at that young age, that we were doing the right thing. other memories included my mom and i doing the rounds of the different headquarters of senate candidates we supported. i would think my mom was getting campaign funds, i was just tickled pink with the campaign stickers they would dole out. my aunt ran an honest campaign, even as the campaign funds were barely enough, in the end she would never get elected into office, but i got to see her in that light, honest, and never had she done anything that would besmirch her honor and integrity, she would go on to serve the country in different capacities, but to me she has been and will always be one of the few who deserved a shot at a chance to lead ifugao, unfortunately as this piece will eventually conclude (SPOILER ALERT!!!!) money can get you anything, and money was something we never had.

when i was finally eligible to vote i was smitten with Raul Roco, probably the only time my friend Rodel and i agreed on a presidential choice. he had no machinery, he had his colorful hawaiian shirts and his vision. something i wholeheartedly subscribed to. Alas, he would only come in third and Erap Estrada’s popularity with the masses eventually won out. i was too young to be a part of EDSA 1 but i still have that yellow T shirt of Ninoy Aquino as a memento. but when EDSA 2 came about, we were there every freakin day, this time an informed citizen of the republic saying “no more, enough is enough!” then GMA came into power. (cue darth vader’s theme here)

9 freakin years. im not gonna go into every detail of every controversy, every attempt at impeachment. i’m just gonna go straight to the events of the past couple of weeks. first, she tried to leave the country on the strength of a TRO on a hold departure order issued by the DOJ. yes we all know the drama surrounding that bullshit. she was supposedly too ill and needed foreign doctors. then a week later she was supposedly good enough for house arrest. and now comes the news that there is a hit ordered on her, by the governent itself called Oplan put the little girl to sleep where supposedly, there is a plan to kill her by way of poisoning her food or medicine or whatever, riiiiiight.

the first time i read this shit on Tulfo’s column about a supposed remark by Butch Abad to “shoot her on the tarmac” i was like, seriously? who would believe that someone would suggest to the sitting president that they deal with gloria the way the Marcos administration dealt with his father?

I am not a big fan of Noynoy. but then again at the time of his election, he was the lesser of the evils that permeated the ballot. i mean come on, who else was there to choose from? and seriously, that is the question in all this. why do we always choose the lesser of evils? why are we not afforded the choice at the best candidate? why is there always a need to compromise?

i do not want to point a finger at the masses and say they make their choices based on popularity and the amount of money spent on them come election time. that’s just fuckin elitist.i will however point a finger at our society as a whole and say it is our fault. many people are asking, what’s gonna happen now? do we really elect the people we deserve? of course not! because we deserve so much better.

in an ideal world, GMA will be tried and found guilty and serve her sentence with no parole or presidential pardon. Hacienda Luisita will be distributed to the farmers who till the land,. maybe that will happen, maybe not.who knows?

but politics is politics.

look at the current crop of senators and you will see the same family names. congress? even more so!

i seriously do not know if it is a byproduct of our existence, but isn’t it time we look at the mirror and say enough is enough?